Chapter 3 - Summary Give Me Liberty!: an American History PDF

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Chapter 3: Creating Anglo America Global Competition and the Expansion of England’s Empire 

1675, bloodiest and most bitter battle between Indians and New England o Indians attacked farms and settlements encroaching on Indian land o Metacom: The chief of the Wampanoags, whom the colonists called King Phillip. He resented English efforts to convert Indians to Christianity and waged a war against the English colonists, one in which he was killed. o By 1676, Indians had attacked nearly half of New England’s 90 towns o Mid-1676, battle turned and Indians power was lost

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 Iroquois Indians provided military aid  Metacom was executed / Villages destroyed  Captives were killed or sold into slavery in the West Indies King Phillips War in turn allowed New Englanders to expand access to land

How did the English empire in America expand in the mid-seventeenth century? The Mercantilist System 

Mercantilism: Policy of Great Britain and other imperial powers of regulating the economics of colonies to benefit the mother country o Colonies sent raw material, England produced products, resold goods to colonies o

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England did better sending the products back  Exports = revenue in  Imports = money out Foreign trade = England’s treasure

Navigation Act: English way of controlling trade o If you were going to ship goods, it must be on English ships and sold at English ports o

 Take control from Dutch Limited colonial trade with other countries

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Ship building industry rose significantly in New England

The Conquest of New Netherland   

Charles II restored the English monarchy Royal African Company given monopoly over slave trade 1664, New Netherland seized during an Anglo-Dutch war o England gained control of Dutch trading posts in Africa o

Charles II gave “full and absolute power” to his brother James the duke of York  Colony became a trade post with Caribbean and Europe  Became a military launching pad against the French  Married women suffered-controlled by husbands again  Black freeman lost jobs

New York and the Indians 

Covenant Chain: Alliance formed in the 1670s between the English and Iroquois nations under Sir Edmund Andros (NY governor) o 5 (layer 6) Iroquois Nations assisted Andros in clearing parts of NY from rival tribes and helped British attack French o Andros recognized Iroquois authority over Indian communities stretching to Ohio River

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1680s, Great Lake and Ohio Valley Indians + French attacked Iroquois, pushing them east o Iroquois became neutral but continued to profit from fur trading

The Charter of Liberties 

NY colonists complained of being denied the “liberties of Englishman” o Right to taxation by consent o 1683, duke of York called an elected assembly  Drafted the Charter of Liberties and Privilges  Elections held every 3 years (male property owners and freeman)  Reaffirmed traditional English rights (trial by jury, security of property, Protestant toleration)

The Founding of Carolina 

1663, Charles II have 8 proprietors right to establish colony north of Florida o Acted as barrier to Spanish expansion

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Carolina was a “colony of a colony” o Barbados colony has land shortage

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 Wealthy planters sought land for their sons Carolinians shipped Indians to mainland colonies and West Indies o More Indian slaves exported than African slaves imported o Yamasee uprising: Revolt of Yamasee and Creek Indians, aggravated by rising debts and slave traders’ raids, against Carolina settlers. Resulted in the expulsion of many Indians to Florida. To attract settler, Carolina provided: o Elective assembly o Religious tolerance o

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Generous Headright System  150 acres for EACH MEMBER of a family  100 to indentured servants upon completion of service Absolute power over their slaves (human property)

o More land for those with slaves Early days centered on cattle raising and Indian trade Discovered rice o Became wealthiest elite in English North America o Epicenter of mainland slavery

The Holy Experiment 

1681, last English colony Established by William Penn o Wanted good Anglo / Indian relations o Society of Friends (Quakers) o

 Sense of equality: Liberty belonged to all and was not based on social status Purchased land from Indians before reselling to colonists

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 Refugee Indians welcome Religious Freedom 

No established church, attendance not required

Land in Pennsylvania 

Democratic government o Council to originate legislation + elected assembly by male taxpayers and freemen  Freemen = owners of 100 acres of land for free immigrants and 50 acres for former indentured servants  Majority of male population eligible to vote

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Settlers attracted to Pennsylvania o Healthy climate o Penn owned all the land and sold it to settlers for low prices o Religious toleration o Publicity (brochures) Pennsylvania freedoms led to the deterioration of other colonies o Indentured servants chose Pennsylvania over Chesapeake  Chesapeake became reliant on slave labor

Origins of American Slavery  

Chesapeake labor demand was high but fewer indentured servants Africans couldn’t claim the protection of English common law = Africans were targets for slavery o Lifetime of servitude o Children became slaves o o

Couldn’t run away because they couldn’t blend in Resistant to diseases

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Familiar to agriculture and farming Were viewed as savages (Pagans: person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions)

Englishmen and Africans 

Africans were so alien (skin color, religion, and social practices) that that were enslavable in ways poor Englishmen were not o Indians were viewed as enslavable too but  

Disease dwindled their population Familiar with countryside and could escape easily

Slavery in History  

Slavery in Greece and Rome from Slavic people o “Slavery” derived from Slavic In Americas, slavery was based on the plantation: an agricultural enterprise that brought together large numbers of workers under the control of a single owner o Slavery far more demanding than household slavery in Africa o o

High death toll in Americas Drew permeant line between whites and blacks

Slavery in the West Indies  

Slavery was made possible because planters and government were convinced slavery was their best way at solving labor shortage Sugar became the most important crop of the British, French and Portuguese empires o St. Domingue (Haiti) was the French jewel 1660, Barbados generated more trade than all of the English colonies combined  1660, 20,000 slaves . . . 1670, 80,000 slaves Slavery grew fast in North America compared to Brazil and West Indies o Slaves cost more than indentured servants o High death rate among tobacco workers was uneconomical Most important distinction in 17th century was not between blacks and whites but between white plantation owners who dominated politics, society and everyone else—and the small farmers, indentured servants, and slaves o

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Slavery and the law 

Before Columbus, Spain had certain laws granting slaves certain rights to marriage, holding property, and freedom access o Laws transferred to Spanish American empire

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English North America slaves were much more repressed 17th century legal status of Chesapeake blacks remained open for interpretation o First 20 slaves (Virginia, 1619): some were able to obtain freedom after certain amount of years

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Racial distinction laws enacted o 1620s, Blacks couldn’t serve in Virginia militia o o

1643, Poll tax (tax levied on individuals) for African women but not white women However, in Chesapeake:  Free blacks could sue and testify in court  Some managed to acquire land and purchase white servants or African slaves

The Rise of the Chesapeake Slavery 

1660s, laws in Chesapeake referred explicitly to slavery o 1662, If one parent was slave and one was free, child became the status of mother o

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 Made sexual abuse of slave women profitable 1667, Virginia House of Burgesses declared religious conversion did not free slaves

o All mixed offspring were illegitimate In British North America (unlike Spanish empire) no mixed mulatto (mixed race) existed o Anyone from African ancestry was black

Bacon’s Rebellion: Land and Labor in Virginia 

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Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676: Unsuccessful revolt led by planter Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia governor William Berkeley’s administration because of governmental corruption and because Berkeley had failed to protect settlers from Indian raids and did not allow them to occupy Indian lands Governor William Berkley ran corrupt regime in alliance with an inner circle of the colony’s wealthiest tobacco planters o Rewarded followers land grants and lucrative offices o Freed servants didn’t get land so they were forced to work as tenants o 1670, poverty levels rose (like those of early England) and right to vote by all free men was now only for o

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landowners Whites not allowed to settle in land reserved for Indians

1676, colonists and Indians got into a confrontation o Colonists wanted Indians removed so they could occupy their land o Governor refused, colonists massacred Indians Nathaniel Bacon, wealthy planter felt Berkeley’s inner circle was unworthy of their favoritism and called for: o Removal of Indians from colony o Reduction of taxes (in economic recession) o End to rule by “Grandees” (nobleman of highest rank) Bacon gained the support of small farmers, landless men, indentured servants, and even some Africans  Most of his army were indentured servants Bacon marched on Jamestown and demanded the removal of Berkeley’s “protected and darling little Indians” o Berkeley refused o

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Bacon burned Jamestown to the ground Governor fled

o Bacon became ruler of Virginia Squadron of warships from England restored order

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Restored property qualifications for voting Adopted more aggressive Indian policy

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 Western area open to farmers (prospered from tobacco price rise in 1680) Virginia shifted to slaves to avoid landless, former indentured servants from rebelling again

A Slave Society 

1680-1700, Indentured servants supplemented with slavery for multiple factors o Bacon’s Rebellion o o

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Death rate began to fall (more economical to purchase a laborer for life) Royal Africa Company’s monopoly on English slave trade ended

 Reduced price of imported slaves 1705, House of Burgesses enacted a slave code o Slaves were property of masters and whites o Could be bought, sold, leased, fought over in court and passed to one’s descendants o o

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Tried in separate courts Free or slave:  Could not own firearms  Strike a white man  Employ a white servant Virginia changed from a “society with slaves” to a “slave society”

Colonies in Crisis What major social and political crises rocked the colonies in the late seventeenth century? The Glorious Revolution 

Glorious Revolution: A coup in 1688 engineered by a small group of aristocrats that led to William of Orange taking the British throne in place of James II o 1685, King Charles II dies (King who restored the throne after parliament ruled for 10 years) o Succeeded by Catholic brother King James II (formerly duke of York) o o o

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Birth of James’ son raised concern for Catholic succession Group of aristocrats invited Dutch William of Orange (James’s Protestant daughter’s husband) to take throne James II fled

Overthrow of King James II confirmed the notion that liberty was the birthright of all Englishmen o To solidify this notion, Parliament enacted The English Bill of Rights: a series of laws enacted in 1689 that o

inscribed the rights of Englishmen into law and enumerated parliamentary powers such as taxation Followed by Toleration Act: allowed Protestant Dissenters (not Catholics) to worship freely 

Only Anglicans could hold office though

The Glorious Revolution in America   

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Colonies basically governed themselves Glorious Revolution exposed cracks in colonial society o English elites had opportunity to regain authority over colonies England established the Lords of Trade: An English regulatory board established to oversee colonial affairs in 1675 o Lords questioned Massachusetts about compliance with Navigation Act  Massachusetts replied: they didn’t have representatives in Parliament so acts did not apply to them unless approved by Massachusetts General Court approved it England moved to reduce colonial autonomy

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King Charles II revoked Massachusetts charter citing Navigation Act violation King James II combined Connecticut, Plymouth, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and

East and West Jersey into a single super colony: The Dominion of New England  Ruled by former NY governor, Sir Edmund Andros  Did not have to answer to elected assembly  Reinforced impression that James II was an enemy of freedom 1689, James II overthrown in England o Triggered rebellions in American colonies Boston militia seized and jailed Edmund Andros and other officials Rebel militia established by Captain Jacob Leisler  Established a Committee of Safety  Took control of NY o Reestablished American colonies New regimes claimed to have acted in the name of English liberty and looked to London for approval o New York unintentionally divided along ethnic and economical lines  Dutch majority reclaimed local power  Bands of rebels ransacked wealthy New Yorker homes  William of Orange sent new governor with troops to retake NY o New England colonies lobbied for the restoration of their original colonies  Most successful  Massachusetts had charter revoked o 1691, William of Orange combined Plymouth and Massachusetts  Property ownership, not full church membership (Puritan “saints”), was now voting requirement  Governor now appointed by crown, not by election  Became a royal colony  Required to abide by English Toleration Act of 1690 (allowed Protestants to worship freely)  Puritan tensions rose o o

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The Salem Witch Trials 

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17th century, magic, astrology and witchcraft was widespread belief o Witches: individuals, usually women, accused of entering into a pact with the devil to obtain supernatural powers Witchcraft was punishable by execution o Stillborn child or failing crops were signs of witchcraft o Most “witches” executed were women beyond childbearing age who were outspoken, economically o

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independent, estranged from their husbands or violated traditional gender norms Executions were sporadic in 1692

1692, Salem Witch Trials o Began when a group of young girls began to suffer fits and nightmares o

 Elders claimed it was due to witchcraft Girls named 3 witches

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 1 was Tituba: Indian from Caribbean who was a slave in one of the girl’s homes Only way to avoid prosecution was to confess and name others: Snowball effect

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 Hundreds accused their neighbors  Many confessed to save their lives  14 women and 5 men were hanged protesting their innocence Governor noticed something was wrong  Dissolved Salem’s court

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Released prisoners

The Growth of Colonial America What were the directions of social and economic change in the eighteenth-century colonies? 

Between 1700-1770 American colonies bustled o Diseased diminished o o o

Expanded westward Hundreds of thousands of newcomers High birth rate

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1700, population was 265,000 – 1770, population was 2.3 million  North America was much less populated in general however due to Indian decline

A Diverse Population  

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In 18th century, African and non-English European arrivals skyrocketed while English immigration declined 40% of European immigrants came as indentured servants o Joined by professionals and skilled craftsmen (teachers, ministers, weaver, carpenters)  England couldn’t afford to lose them so they officially ended promotion of English immigration England sent 50,000 convicts to labor in Chesapeake tobacco fields England encouraged non-English Protestant immigration (easy land access and freedom of worship) Scotland and Ulster outnumbered English immigration bringing Presbyterians to North America

The German Migration  

Formed the largest group of newcomers from Europe in 18th century Germany divided into numerous small states o Each with different Prince who determined official religion

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Immigrated because of religious persecutions agricultural crises, and difficulty acquiring land Created a system where redemptioners (former indentured servants) received passage and worked off debt in America

Religious Diversity  

American society was far more diverse than Britain, especially in religion Colonies did not adhere to separation of church and state (except New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania) o Levied taxes to pay minister’s salaries in established churches o o

Barred Catholics and Jews from voting and holding office Religious toleration remained

Indian Life in Transition 

Indian became accustomed to using European products o Knives, hatchets, needles, kettles, firearms o Alcohol created social chaos in Indian communities

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Traders saw Indians as potential profits British officials saw Indians as allies against France and Spain Farmers and planters saw Indians as obstruction for land Flood of immigrants made settlers unhappy Walking Purchase: An infamous 1737 purchase of Indian land in which Pennsylvanian colonists tricked the Lenni Lanape Indians. The Lanape agreed to cede land equivalent to the distance a man could walk in 36 hours, but the colonists marked out an area using a team of runners

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By 1760, Indians became suspicious and hostile breaking most harmonious settler/Indian relationship in America

Regional Diversity 

Backcountry: The area stretching from central Pennsylvania southward through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and into upland North and South Carolina o Farm families raising grain and livestock

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Middle colonies: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania o More accustomed to commerce

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o Grew grain for personal use and sale abroad o Supplemented work of family members by employing wage laborers, tenants, and slaves Pennsylvania: “The best poor man’s country” o Fertile soil, favorable climate, good Indian relations (initially), generous land distribution, rivers for long distance trade

The Consumer Revolution  

18th century Great Britain became leading producer and trader of inexpensive consumer goods o Coffee, tea, linen, metal-ware, pins, ribbons, glassware, ceramics, clothing In port cities and small inland towns shops proliferated and newspapers filled with ads

Colonial Cities   ...